The Lost World
by BenevolentBizzy
Summary: AU. Kagome Higurashi knew she couldn't stop going, not for a single second. No matter what, she had to continue her search. Her suffering, her life meant nothing, absolutely nothing if she failed. Because if she failed.. the whole world would pay the price. KagomeX?


Disclaimer: Me no own.

Author's note: This is AU, so many things are different from the anime world of Inuyasha. Some aspects will be the same but I wanted a story that was wholly original. Although.. I was sort-of inspired by Tomb Raider. Please enjoy my story and leave a review with your opinion!

The Lost World

The glare reflecting off of the frozen terrain blinded her as she tugged on the straps to tighten the belt that held her survival tools around her waist. The heavy boots on her feet thudded loudly as she walked and echoed over the roaring of the biting wind that whipped her icy hair around her face and into her tired stinging eyes. The steady beat of her heart pumped sluggish blood through freezing capillaries and antarctic arteries into numb and painful extremities while her eyes searched through iced-over lashes for some kind of crevice or cave in the cliff side. About a hundred yards off, a break in the gleaming rock of the mountain sat, situated on a very narrow pathway that give way to trench that looked just as unforgiving as the weather felt.

For about the billionth time, Kagome Higurashi cursed everything in the world that had brought her on this godforsaken quest.

Reaching down to her hip, she gripped her pick-ax with shivering hands and swallowed her fear. Keeping her head down to fend off the frigid wind that was steadily growing worse, she began to inch forward with her free hand out in front of her. The trek took what felt like hours to complete and when her hand came into contact with the side of the mountain, she took a moment to gather her wits and survey the dangerous path she was about to take to get to the cave. It looked to be about seven inches wide with chunks missing here and there and the condition of it was dismal as best. It was definitely _not_ safe to walk on, but she knew that it was imperative she warm her body temperature up or she would die, regardless. She decided she wanted to go out the way she had always lived, chin up and arms swinging.

Moral firmly back in place, Kagome squared her shoulders and brought her body flush against the rock wall and once again to inch forward, sideways onto the lip of the cliff. The tip of her toe tested the stability of the ice before she placed her foot down all the way and began to inch her body eastward and closer to the shelter that was swiftly becoming her salvation. The numbness had spread from her fingers and toes and was encroaching on her forearms and calves like a rising tide hell bent on swallowing the land. The freezing woman glanced over towards the opening of the cave and estimated about 10 more feet to go and inched her right foot forward once again but nearly screamed as the ground underneath of it tumbled away into the dark abyss that she was desperately trying to ignore.

 _'Don't look, don't look.. whatever you do girl, don't look,'_ but despite her inner chanting, her eyes peeled open and peered over her shoulder down into the deep dark hole right underneath her feet that for a second, struck her with fear so deep, it nearly crippled her. Grabbing onto every once of courage she had left in her frozen body, Kagome turned her head back around and stretched her leg farther so she could find purchase on the ground. Finally satisfied with her footing, she began to move inch sideways once again. Breathing deep to try and stem the tide of adrenaline that was setting in, she looked over to the cave she was inching towards and allowed herself a small relieved smile at seeing it only a couple steps farther.

Her relief was short-lived, however.

The ground underneath her feet and the whole mountain itself began to rumble and shake ominously, and if the rock she was standing on hadn't have given away, she would have marveled over the force of an avalanche that had obviously just shaken the terrain.

For a few split seconds everything was slow and quite, as if she were moving under water. Kagome could see the edge of the cliff and the cave that was supposed to save her and the way her fingers grasped for nothing but the cold air that swirled around her and pushed her down. In the span of those couple heart beats where she was falling to her death, she expected to feel all-consuming dread and anger and sadness but the only thing that coursed through her still freezing veins was a deep steely sense of determination. The weathered face of her late father appeared in her mind and whispered to her over the thunder of the wind with a familiar fondness in his sparkling eyes.

 _'You can do this, my girl, I believe in you..'_

And just like that, everything sped up and reality stepped back in to play. Before she could register what was going on, her brain had already sent the signals and her hand was wrapping around her second pick-ax, the one with the rope attached that was also secured around her waist. Unclasping it from her waist, she hurled it with all her might up towards the rapidly disappearing edge that she had fallen from.

She held her breath and clenched her eyes shut. _Please.._

It was knocked out of her in a rush as the rope around her mid-section snapped taut and stopped her free fall. The force of the abrupt stop caused her to swing towards the rock face dangerously and all she could do was curl her body in so that the crushing force of hitting the frozen cliff at high speeds didn't kill her or shatter bones.

 _WHAM!_

The pain was so intense that she lost consciousness for a few seconds. Her head reverberated with the force of impact and it jerked her head to the side so fast she was sure she had whiplash. Her shoulder and hip ached like nothing she had ever felt before.

She hung there for what seemed like years as she tried to regather her bearings. Despite the frostbite that was most definitely setting into her limbs and the pain from the hit, she began to pull herself up the rope slowly, with her booted feet digging into the cliff for leverage. Slowly but surely, Kagome made her way up until she could grab the edge where her pick-ax had dug into to save her life. With the last burst of strength she could muster and an exasperated grunt, she yanked herself up and over the edge and into the cave she had been aiming for in the beginning.

On her back she lay, with little tears escaping her stinging eyes. She knew she needed to start a fire but when she tried to move, all she could get was a wiggling of her fingers.

 _'Why do I do this to myself? Don't kid yourself, Higurashi. You know how important this is. You know why your father raised you for this. Swallow your whimpers and pain and get up! This is not just about you, this is about the whole world! This is your duty! This is what you were born for! Get up, god dammit! GET UP!'_

With extreme difficulty, and _extreme_ willpower alone, she managed to raise herself up and survey the cave she had landed herself in. It was very large and looked like it lead further into the mountain, through a tunnel tucked into the back. There were scary looking icicles, the size of her own body and bigger, hanging from the roof of the colossal cavern. The best thing about the cave though, was the stack of branches and kindling piled off to the side.

Somehow, through a blur of exhaustion, Kagome managed to start a fire and curl herself into her sleeping bag. As the last of her adrenaline died off, she decided that checking out her injuries from her fall could wait till later and she drifted off to into blissful sleep.

 _XxxxX_

This was experimental, so depending on your responses, I may or may not continue. This is also unedited because I hate proof-reading my own stories for some terrible reason.. oh well! Thanks for reading!


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